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Friday, 17 October 2014

Holes - meditations on change and pain

You know what? Right now I can
barely type. My arms feel as if they
belong to someone else entirely. Why? Well, Nick, the instructor at my little local
gym, had devised me a new set of programmes and today was my first upper body
session. I’m using mainly free weights
now although he snuck in a killer series on the TRX. Ouch.
Ouch. Ouch.

Anyhow, it’s all good.No, I’m
not a masochist, well, not more than anyone else really, but if you want to
progress, you have to mix things up.If
you carry on doing the same thing, year in, year out, nothing changes.

My routine was fine, nothing wrong with it, and it was keeping me at a
base level of fitness. But I wanted even
firmer, leaner arms; I wanted a stronger back and abs. So, then, I had to move out of my comfort
zone into something…more challenging.

Of course, this goes for anything in life really, not just fitness. But change can be frightening. It’s easy doing what we’ve always done, isn’t
it? Sure you can coast and, if you’re
happy where you are, doing what you’re doing, then that’s all fine and dandy. But if you’re not…well… You have to try
something different.

And that reminded me of a poem Mangalo read out at the end of a yoga
class at Yobaba Lounge. I hadn’t heard
it before and it made me smile. It’s
very simple (as the best things usually are) and it’s uncomfortably true.

So, for all who find themselves in holes…here it is.

There’s a hole in my sidewalk by Portia
Nelson

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes me a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.